I Have Seen the Light
by Im-On-A-Roll
Summary: Song fic. On the night of Chrismtas Eve, Lino and Lenny sing a duet at the Whale Wash's first annual Christmas Eve party. The song they sing has the same title as this story. MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!


_Author's note: Just so we're all clear, I do not own the movie Shark Tale or this song. I've never said this before in a fanfiction so now seemed like a good time to announce it. Anyway, Happy Holidays everyone! This is my gift to you. _

I Have Seen the Light

They say that Christmas brings out the best in people. If you don't want to take my word for it, just look in the mirror on Christmas day and compare your smiling reflection to how it would look on any other day of the year. But believe it or not, it's not only people that feel better on Christmas than they would any other day of the year. The festive holiday season also brings out the best in those who dwell under the deep blue.

It was Christmas Eve and the employees at the Whale Wash were busily preparing for their first annual Christmas Eve party, which had been arranged by a young fish we all know. The fish in question was now talking on his cell phone with a very crabby postal worker.

"No, no, no. I said _fifty_," Oscar snapped. "How in the world am I gonna fill an entire whale wash with only fifteen wreaths?"

"It's called improvising, pushy," replied the postal girl. "And in case you haven't figured it out yet, it's the day before Christmas. Not only is it the worst time of the year for us, it's almost impossible to find any Christmas decorations left in the whole reef."

Oscar was getting impatient. "Look, I know it's Christmas Eve but we need all of those wreaths before eight."

"Sir, do you know how hard let alone expensive it'll be to mail an extra thirty-five wreaths in less than six hours? We had enough problems with just fifteen."

"I don't care if you have to get on the phone with St. Nick himself and get him to help. I want those wreaths here before our party. We have over a hundred fish and sharks comin' and they need a little AHH!"

An unexpected tap on the shoulder took him by surprise. "Ernie!"

"Sorry, Mon," Ernie apologized.

"Man, I was in the middle of somethin' important. You can't just take somebody by surprise like that."

"'Ey, I said I was sorry," Ernie repeated.

Oscar took a deep breath and told himself that he was no longer talking to a feisty postal worker. "Alright," he said patiently to Ernie. "You have my attention. What is it?"

"I just wanted ta get your opinion on da interior decoratin'."

Oscar had been so busy on the phone he hadn't been paying much attention to the decorating going on around him. He looked around and was actually amazed at how the wash looked. The walls were decked with multi-colored tinsel held in place with red ribbons. Mistletoe, decorative snowflakes, and brightly colored ornaments were hanging all over from the ceiling. Every pole was wrapped in a string of red or green electric lights. Yep, anyway you look at it, the wash was ready for Christmas.

"Dang, guys," Oscar said the rest of the employees. "This place looks awesome!"

"You really think so, Mon?" Ernie asked.

"I know so," Oscar replied. "I don't think this place has ever looked better. You guys sure have outdone yourselves. All we need is the wreaths and it's perfect."

"Actually dere's somethin' else we need," said Ernie.

"What's that?"

"We gotta do a sound check to make sure da mics work."

"Oh right, sound check!" Oscar said mainly to himself. "How'd I forget that?" He quickly made his way to the dance floor, which was going to be used for something a little different tonight. "Yo Bernie!" he called to Bernie, who was in charge of the sound equipment. "You got the mic all set up?"

"Yeah, Mon!" Bernie called back. "Say somethin' into it, I wanna test da volume!"

Oscar approached the microphone, which was about the same size he was, and said into it, "Hey how's it goin' all my home boys and home girls? How ya'll doin' tonight?" The sound of his voice echoed throughout the entire building, which was precisely was Bernie was hoping for. Without moving away from the mic, Oscar said to Bernie, "Oh yeah, it works just fine."

"Perfect!" Bernie called. "But next time, a simple 'ello would be fine, Mon!"

Oscar rolled his eyes and said into the mic, "Hey, as long as we're testin' the mic, why don't we run through the song real quick?"

"But da band's not 'ere!" Bernie pointed out.

"We don't need 'em," said Oscar. "We'll just test the lights, check the sound equipment, and have the musical guest sing a few bars into the mic. Lights, please."

As he spoke, he was nearly blinded when the unexpectedly bright spotlights flashed in his face. Throwing his fin over his squinting eyes, he said, "Okay, can we dim the lights a little?"

"Sorry!" called one of the fish in charge of the lights.

The lights dimmed a little and Oscar let out a sigh. "Much better," he said into the mic. "Okay, we got the mic and the lights workin' great. Musical guest, would you care to take it away?" There was no answer. Oscar looked around but the musical guest was nowhere to be seen. "Musical guest? Musical guest?"

"'Ey Oscar,' Ernie whispered. "Where's da musical guest?"

Oscar sighed. "If I knew where the musical guest was, would I be lookin' around callin' for him?"

"Good point, Mon," Ernie replied.

"Ernie, why don't you watch the mic while I go look for our musical guest?"

"Aye, you got it, Mon."

"Thanks."

Oscar left the dance floor and searched everywhere he could to see if he could find their musical guest. But everywhere he looked, he saw nothing but more wash employees setting up decorations. "Well, at least he chose now to disappear rather than five minutes before show time," he said to himself. After a brief while of searching, he decided to ask Angie if she'd seen the musical guest. He swam to the window of Angie's office where she was clearing her throat and reading words she had written on index cards.

"Angie, I need to ask you somethin'," he said.

"Oscar, I'm practicing my speech right now," Angie replied. "Can it wait 'til later?"

"No it really can't. I can't find the musical guest."

Then a voice spoke in response, but it wasn't Angie's. "I'm right here." The speaker was the up until now anonymous musical guest, Lenny, who was presumably hiding under the window on the other side of Angie's office.

Oscar darted over to where Lenny was and, without wasting any time, asked, "Lenny, what are you doin' over here? Didn't you hear me callin' you for sound check?"

"I was trying to escape all the noise in there so I could practice my song in peace," Lenny replied.

"Oh, well are you ready now?"

Lenny sighed. "Oscar, I don't think I can sing tonight."

"Why not?"

"I don't know what's wrong with me, I can't find the first note," Lenny replied. He tried singing the first few words to his song in different keys trying to figure out which one was right. "I was a seeker… I was… I was… Oh, I can't get it! I'm gonna blow it!"

"Lenny, where'd this come from?" Oscar laughed slightly. "You knew the notes when you sang it for me and Angie and you sounded great."

Angie stuck her head out of her office window and said, "I think I know what's wrong. You've got stage fright, don't you Lenny?"

"Big time," Lenny admitted. "I don't know why I let you guys talk me into this."

"Because we're your best friends who you'll do anything for, we needed a good music act, you have the best voice we've ever heard, and you were willing to do it for free," Oscar explained.

"Well I take it back," Lenny said. "The more nervous I get, the more you owe me."

"Lenny, it's not a bad thing to get a little scared," said Angie. "Even the most professional singers in the world get cold fins from time to time."

"And it's not like you're singing for total strangers," Oscar pointed out. "Everyone here tonight knows you and they've all seen you dance. Now they wanna hear your killer chops."

"Yeah, well singing's not like dancing," said Lenny. "If I get nervous while I'm dancing, no one can tell 'cause either way I'm shaking like crazy. Singing requires staying still and everyone's looking at your face to see if I'm scared."

"Then don't focus on everyone else," said Oscar. "Focus on the people who've actually heard you sing and who know you rock."

Lenny looked Oscar in the eye. "That's not gonna help. One of those people is my dad, who used to sing this song to me when I was little. And he has never blown it. That made me realize that I'll never be able to sing it as good as he used to."

"Ya know?" Oscar asked. "I'm still kinda having trouble picturing Lino as the singing type."

"Well he is," Lenny continued. "And he's got one of the best voices _I've_ ever heard. If I mess up tonight, I'll be ruining this song for both of us."

Oscar and Angie looked at each other.

"Oh," said Angie. "So that's why you're so nervous. You're afraid of letting your dad down by ruining a song he used to sing to you."

Lenny nodded.

Oscar spoke. "Lenny, you have nothing to be worried about. You may not have your dad's voice, that I still need to hear to believe, but you can nail every song we can name with your voice. Besides, even if you did blow it, your dad won't care. If he can get over you being a vegetarian, he can easily get over you blowing one song."

"Thanks, Oscar… I think."

"Look, Lenny," Angie said in a caring voice. "Even if you are nervous, it's Christmas Eve. Your friends and family all want to see you doing something you love and that you're great at. Plus, this is the wash's first Christmas party ever. We want to make sure we picked the most memorable musical guest ever."

"Yeah, Len," said Oscar. "Ya know what they say: The show must go on."

Angie suddenly took notice of two oncoming sharks and said to Lenny, "Well if we can't convince you, here's two people I know you can't say no to."

Lenny squinted his eyes to get a better view of the approaching sharks. At the moment, the extent of his knowledge was that one was male and the other was female. As they got closer, he heard the male say to the female, "There he is."

Lenny knew that voice anywhere. He smiled as the sharks came close enough for him to see their equally attractive faces. "Victor! Daniela!"

"Lenny!" Daniela speedily swam up to her cousin and hugged him tightly. "Aunt Kathleen told us you'd be here."

"What are you guys doing here?" Lenny asked.

"Man, we came to watch you sing," Victor said throwing his fin around Lenny's shoulders.

"Yeah, Uncle Lino called us and said you were singing tonight," said Daniela. "And I remembered you used to sing for me and Ruby all the time and we just had to be here to watch you."

"We?" Lenny asked, his nerves increasing slightly.

"Yeah, Ruby's coming too. And our mom."

"And I've never heard you sing before and Daniela told me you rock," said Victor. "So here we are."

"Oh, well…"

Oscar interrupted before Lenny could say he was changing his mind. "In that case, maybe you guys could help us. He's come down with a little stage fright and now he wants to back out."

"What?" said Daniela. "Lenny, you can't. We've been looking forward to hearing you sing all week."

"Seriously, Len," said Victor. "We came all this way just to watch. You don't wanna let down your biggest fans, do ya?"

Lenny thought about this. He was now aware that he'd be singing for more people than he had expected thus his nerves had increased even more. On the other fin, his cousins had always loved hearing him sing and Victor had never heard him before. He didn't want to disappoint them. Of course, he didn't want to disappoint his dad by supposedly ruining one of their favorite songs either.

"I don't know, guys," he said. "I just don't know if I can do it. I can't do this song the way my dad could."

"Oh yeah," said Daniela. "Uncle Lino mentioned that you were doing the song he used to sing to us."

"Okay, seriously," said Oscar. "Am I the only one who thinks it's weird that Lino is the singing type?"

Daniela ignored him and continued to convince her cousin. "Well if it helps, I just want to tell you that this is the first Christmas Ruby and I are having without our dad. And we could really use some Christmas spirit right about now."

Lenny understood what she meant. It had occurred to him over and over again that this was his first Christmas without his brother. And singing always put him (Lenny) in a good mood no matter how depressed he was. Now he truly was in a head-scratching situation.

"Also," said Victor, "this is the first Christmas in a long time where I'm actually in the holiday spirit. Christmas never meant anything to my dad, so I haven't really celebrated in over three years. Now I'm here with the coolest friends and the best girlfriend I could ever ask for and the one shark who's ever been like a brother to me is gonna be singing for us. You know how much that means?"

Now it was even more of a head-scratcher. It was either sing and risk disappointing his dad (so he thought), or drop out and risk ruining the wash's first Christmas Eve party ever, disappointing his cousins who had just lost their father, and crushing the first Christmas spirit his brotherly figure had felt in a long time. In the end, he'd decided there was no contest.

"Okay," he said quietly. "I'll do it."

"Yes!" Daniela said, hugging him again.

"That's the spirit, Lenny," said Victor.

"I knew they would convince him to do it," Angie said quietly to Oscar.

"You are a genius," Oscar replied.

"So when's the party?" Victor asked.

"At eight," said Lenny. "And I go on at ten."

Daniela looked rather annoyed. "Oh, well it looks like we got here a little early then."

"That's no biggy," said Victor. "We could help decorate or something. Ya know, make ourselves useful."

"You really wanna make yourselves useful?" Oscar asked. "Can either of you clap your fins and make thirty-five wreaths appear from mid water?"

By seven thirty, the rest of the wreaths had arrived and been hanged, the sound equipment and lights had been tested, and the first of the guests were starting to arrive. Oscar and Angie were at the entrance greeting each guest as they came in. Lenny was a short distance away humming to himself to make sure he remembered the right key.

"Hey, Giuseppe!" Oscar greeted Giuseppe the hammerhead shark as he approached. "How's it hangin', hammerhead?"

"It's all good," Giuseppe replied. "That is as long as you don't have any spoons on ya."

Oscar scoffed. "No, man. I'm clean."

"Enjoy the party, Giuseppe," said Angie.

"Thanks. You both have a Merry Christmas."

"You too," Angie and Oscar said.

"AH!" Oscar gave a small scream when he saw the next fish in line. "Uh, I mean happy holidays, Mrs. Sanchez."

"Yeah, yeah, you too," Mrs. Sanchez replied impatiently. "Now where's Mr. Sykes? Mama wants to get some salsa on with that puffy hunk of puffer fish."

Oscar and Angie exchanged looks of nausea. "Ya know?" said Angie. "He's gonna be a little late. Said something about a big Christmas Eve pre-party get together."

"Dinner with his mother," Oscar translated.

"Oh, well alrighty then," said Mrs. Sanches. "I'll wait up for him. I'm sure there's plenty of studs in this wash who wanna show some salsa with Mrs. Sanchez."

Oscar gagged at the flirtatious way she said that last line. "Well," he said trying to hold his lunch down, "I hope you find one."

"Merry Christmas, Mrs. Sanchez," said Angie.

"Feliz Navidad, mis ninos," Mrs. Sanchez said as she left to find a dance partner.

The next small group of guests to arrive was far less disturbing to both of them. Lenny's mom, aunt Rita, and cousin Ruby.

"Merry Christmas you two," Kathleen greeted Oscar and Angie.

"Oh ho, Kathleen! Ruby! Uh… Ruby's mom!"

Rita chuckled, trying to hide the hint of embarrassment she felt. "Rita," she said to Oscar.

"Rita! I knew that was your name. See Angie? Didn't I tell ya her name was Rita?"

"You sure did," Angie said quietly. "Nothing gets by you, Oscar."

"So where's Lenny?" Ruby asked. "We wanted to wish him luck before he goes on tonight."

Lenny, having heard their voices, approached them and said, "Right here."

"There's our little musical guest," Kathleen said giving Lenny a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Good luck tonight, Lenny," said Rita.

"Yeah, knock 'em dead and make us proud," said Ruby.

"Thanks a lot," said Lenny. "Hey Mom, where's Pop?"

"He'll be a little late," said Kathleen. "He has a special surprise for you and he wanted to finish putting it together."

"Will he be here by the time I go on?"

"Oh I assure you he will," Kathleen smiled.

"Well you all enjoy the party," Angie said.

"Come on," Rita said to Ruby. "Let's go find your sister."

The three female sharks proceeded into the wash. Lenny staid behind to say something to Oscar and Angie. "Oh man!" he whispered.

"What's wrong?" Oscar asked.

"When I saw that Pop might not be coming, I got excited 'cause I thought it meant he won't be able to watch me blow it."

"Lenny," Angie said. "I'm disappointed in you. How could you say you don't want your dad to be here to support you?"

"It's not that," said Lenny. "I'm still afraid of letting him down."

"Man Lenny, you have gotta chill," said Oscar. "If your dad truly believed that you were gonna ruin this song, he would not be showing up here tonight at all."

"I guess that makes sense," said Lenny.

"It really does make sense," said Angie. "Let me ask you something. Did your dad write this song?"

"… No."

"Did he compose the song?" Oscar asked.

"Again, no," Lenny replied.

"And was he the first person to sing the song, record it, and sell millions of copies of it all over the ocean?" Angie asked.

Lenny could now see where this was going. "No."

"Then you have nothing to worry about because it is not now nor was it ever his song," said Oscar. "Your opinion just happens to be that he sings it better than anyone, but that doesn't mean he's the only one who ever sang it."

Lenny thought for a moment and then nodded. "You're right."

"That's more like it!" said Oscar. "Now take it easy, keep practicing your scales until show time, if it helps then take some time to loosen up on the dance floor, and when your time for the spotlight comes, blow us all away."

Lenny spent the rest of the night enjoying himself with his friends. Ernie and Bernie were playing anything Christmas-y they could find on the DJ and everyone loved dancing to it. Dancing and socializing really helped Lenny maintain his cool. When he wasn't doing either of these, he would cover one of his ears with his fin and hum to himself to see if he remembered the right key. And at one point when he did none of the above, he was avoiding looking at Victor and Daniela who had "accidentally" found their way under some mistletoe. During the rest of the time, he was looking towards the wash's entrance to see if Lino had arrived yet. But every time he looked, Lino never showed up. This was rather bittersweet, but Lenny couldn't tell if it was more bitter than sweet or vise versa.

Finally, the big moment had arrived. When the clock read five until ten, Oscar told Bernie and Ernie to stop the DJ and asked everyone to clear the dance floor. Lenny was hiding in the shadows a few yards away. He had not seen Lino arrive yet and was beginning to wish he would see him make a speedy entrance and breathlessly take a spot next to Kathleen.

Once the dance floor was clear, Oscar happily said into the mic, "Hey everybody. How's everyone enjoyin' the wash's first annual Christmas Eve party?"

The crowd responded with a deafening mixture of applause and girls screaming, "WE LOVE YOU OSCAR!"

Oscar chuckled and said, "Yeah, that's what I wanted to hear. Alright everyone, it's almost ten and unfortunately that means the party's almost over." The crowd all did a group aw. "But on the plus side, we've saved the best part for last. In a few minutes, you will hear a musical number performed by tonight's musical guest, and my very best friend, Lenny. Lenny's been working his tailfin off all week to make sure our first ever Christmas Eve bash is a memorable one. Ain't that nice of him, folks?" The crowd once again responded with a loud applause. "And I can promise you," Oscar continued, "that you will not be disappointed. This guy's got one heck of a gift when it comes to singin' and I hope ya'll enjoy it. But before we bring him out, Angie, the love of my life, would like to make a speech that she wrote herself reminding each of us why we are here tonight. Angie?"

Oscar floated away from the mic and Angie took his place. "Thank you, Oscar," she said.

As Angie began her speech, Lenny's eyes were now glued to the Wash's entrance. Where was Lino? There was no way he could sing happily without his dad there to support him.

"More than two thousand years ago," Angie began, "a miracle was brought to us. The Lord above sent his only begotten son to earth to save us all from sin. Although this memorable and extraordinary event took place on land and the Savior himself walked among human beings, it was a miracle for us in the ocean just as much as it was for mankind. And we are all gathered here tonight to celebrate this blessing, just as so many had gathered together at the stable on that holy night. It has long been said that that night, a star brighter than the sun or the moon shone over them in the town of Bethlehem. As the song Lenny is about to sing mentions, the star shone in the darkness, burst through the shadows, and delivered the dawn. It guided humble shepherds and wealthy wise men to the holy child that would one day become the Savior to us all. That child's holy name would be Jesus. His kingdom is forever and he reigns on Heaven's throne. And now, here to deliver this meaning to us in song, is our good friend Lenny. Lenny?"

Lenny still hadn't seen Lino arrive and had now become devastated. He reluctantly forced himself to smile and slowly made his way to the mic. The crowd applauded as he took his place. Angie patted him on the shoulder, whispered "good luck" to him, and then went into the crowd to join Oscar, Kathleen, Victor, Daniela, Ruby, and Rita. Looking over at his friends and relatives, Lenny suddenly remembered Kathleen telling him that Lino had a surprise for him. So clearly that mean Lino really was coming, but what on earth could the surprise be? And if Lino was going to enter while Lenny was singing, could the surprise at least wait until later? Unless… was Lino going to do something embarrassing to Lenny while he was singing? Oh no. Was a giant screen going to come down while he was singing? Had Lino put together a slide show of embarrassing baby pictures?

These questions vanished when Lenny heard the music director shark tap his baton. Within seconds, the orchestra began playing the song Lenny had chosen to sing; "I Have Seen the Light". As the music began, Lenny decided to not worry about his dad showing up and the likelihood of being embarrassed by whatever his surprise was. Right now was the time to focus on the song. He gently tapped the speaker end of the mic to make sure the sound was clear and began singing when his cue came.

Lenny:_ "I was a seeker, for light in a dark world,_

_I looked for truth, but settled for lies,"_

"_I had been blinded,"_ As he sang this part, the strangest thing happened. He was suddenly joined in song by an anonymous singer who sounded as if they were right behind him. And this person had one heck of a voice on them. Lenny curiously turned around and saw Lino standing under a second spotlight with a mic in his fin and a smile on his face. Lenny didn't need a further explanation, and neither did the audience. Lino's surprise for him was singing with him. Lenny smiled as Lino slowly approached and stood beside him.

Lino and Lenny:_ "I couldn't see,_

_Til a star in Bethlehem sky opened my eyes." _

They continued the rest of the song as a duet with Lenny singing the high tenor part and Lino covering the lower baritone part. Their two voices blended perfectly together to form the most angelic harmony.

"_I have seen the light shining in the darkness, bursting through the shadows, delivering the dawn. _

_I have seen the light, whose holy name is Jesus. His kingdom is forever, He reigns on Heavens throne." _

Lino:_ "There in a manger, an innocent baby, _

_Who could believe he was the one?" _

Lino and Lenny:_ "I can believe it! I know it's true, _

_He changed my life." _

Lenny:_ "He is the light." _

Lino:_ "He is God's son!" _

Lino really nailed that last word, which lasted about three seconds. He belted it too such a point that the hearts of their friends and family in the crowd practically skipped a beat. Oscar was now convinced that Lenny had inherited his singing gift from Lino.

Lino, Lenny, and choir:_ "I have seen the light shining in the darkness, bursting through the shadows, delivering the dawn. _

_I have seen the light, whose holy name is Jesus. His kingdom is forever, He reigns on Heavens throne._

Lino and Lenny:_ "We must tell the world what we've seen today in Bethlehem, _

_He is the promised King! We bow down and worship Him. We will worship Christ the King! _

_I have seen the light shining in the darkness, bursting through the shadows, delivering the dawn. _

_I have seen the light, whose holy name is Jesus. His kingdom is forever," _

Lino and Lenny:_ "He reigns on Heavens throne._

_I have seen the light of Jesus, I have seen the light of the Lord, _

_I have seen the light of Jesus, I have seen the light! I have seen the light, of the Lord!" _

The moment the song ended, the audience broke into applause so intense they could be heard in Australia. Even thought hey were underwater, it was pretty easy to tell that quite a few tears had been brought to just about everyone's eyes. Except for Kathleen, she had just about cried herself dry. And who could blame her? Having a husband and a son who shared such an awesome gift was a huge honor.

The applause continued for more than a minute. About halfway through, Lino and Lenny each put a fin on each other's backs and began taking their well-deserved bows.

"Surprise, Kiddo," Lino whispered to Lenny as they took their bows.

"You saved my neck, Pop," Lenny replied.

About half-an-hour later, the wash was just about empty. Ernie and Bernie were still playing the DJ, so a few of the guests had decided to stay a little longer and have one last dance. Lino and Lenny, who had received about fifty "well dones" and "congratulations" since they'd finished their song, were now having celebratory hot drinks with their family and friends.

"You see, Lenny?" said Oscar. "We told ya you had nothin' to worry about. You wanted to make your dad proud, and you did."

"Yeah he did," Lino said, throwing his fin around his son's shoulders. "Great job tonight, Son."

"You too, Pop," said Lenny. "But how long were you planning on doing that?"

Lino replied quickly. "Since the minute you told me you were singing," he said with a wink.

"Well, you were both amazing," said Angie. "We can't thank you enough for making our first annual Christmas Eve party one the audience will never forget."

"Especially you, Lino," said Oscar. "We always knew Lenny had some killer chops and now we've learned where he gets 'em from."

"It's true," said Lino. "This kid gets all his best qualities from his old man. His voice, his good looks, his brains, his…"

Kathleen interrupted. "And what does he get from me?" she joked.

"Oh that's easy," said Lino. "His feminine side."

"Pop!"

Lino laughed and teasingly rubbed Lenny's head. "I'm kiddin', I'm kiddin'."

"You two really made this a great Christmas," said Rita. "The girls and I needed a little holiday cheer after losing Damian and all."

"Glad we could help, Aunt Rita," said Lenny.

"Seriously," said Ruby. "You guys were great! You should audition to be on one of those musical reality shows."

Lino chuckled. "I don't think we're that ready, Ruby. But we're still glad we could make this a great Christmas for you and your sister."

"This was a great Christmas Eve for me too," said Victor. "You guys will always be there for me, won't you?"

"Of course, Victor," said Lino. "Especially on Christmas."

Daniela looked at Victor and cleared her throat. "They're the only ones who'll always be there for you?"

Victor smiled dreamily at her. "Course not, Baby. I know you'll always be there for me too."

"Hey," said Ruby. "Save it for the mistletoe, you two."

At that very moment, Sykes appeared in front of the group so fast it was as if he had magically appeared there from thin air. "Good evenin', everyone," he said quickly. "Great job tonight, Don Lino. You too, Lenny."

"Uh, hey Sykes," said Oscar. "How's Mama Sykes?"

Sykes shot him a disapproving look. "I'll be angry about that later. Right now I gotta ask you all a favor. The DJ's still playing and I could've sworn I just heard Mrs. Sanchez calling my name. And you all know what that means." And of course, they really did know what that meant. Mrs. Sanchez still wanted to salsa dance with him. "I don't have much time before she comes over here. I've gotta make a run for it. I've gotta get home and lock all the doors and windows. I need you all to tell her I came over here to get her some cocoa and I'm out on the dance floor looking for her. Please, please, please, I'm beggin' you."

Every shark and fish in the group was speechless. Oscar and Angie looked at each other and exchanged looks that said, "Should we? After all no one should be alone on Christmas Eve." They smiled sneakily and Oscar took over from there.

"Yeah, yeah. No prob, Sykes. We got yo back. Right everyone?" he winked at his friends as a way of telling them to just play along.

"Oh," said Lino. "You got it, Sykes. Now you'd better get on home, I think I here her comin' this way."

"On that note, I'm outta here. Happy holidays, everyone." Sykes sped off as fast as he could towards the exit.

No more than ten seconds later, Mrs. Sanchez entered the scene calling, "Mr. Sykes? Has any of you seen Mr. Sykes?"

As she spoke, the two fish and seven sharks all pointed their fins in the same direction. More specifically, the exact same direction that Sykes had just gone.

"Oh I see how it is," said Mrs. Sanchez. "Trying to play hard to get, is he? Just like all single men. I'm coming, Mr. Sykes!"

"Hey hold up, Mrs. Sanchez," said Oscar. He then held up a small key and handed it to her. "Here's the spare key to his house. Trust me, you're gonna need 'em."

"Gracias, Oscar," said Mrs. Sanchez. "You can run, but you can't hide, Mr. Sykes!" Without wasting another second, she raced off to the direction of Sykes' house.

"Merry Christmas, Sykes," said Oscar.

"And a happy new year," Lino finished.

_The end. Thank you all for reading. Happy Holidays to everyone! _


End file.
